Black and bloated carcasses of cows lie rotting in their thousands in scenes more akin to an apocalyptic nightmare than the aftermath of a snowstorm.

As many as 20,000 cattle are thought to have died where they stood last weekend as blizzards swept the South Dakota countryside leaving many ranchers' livelihoods in ruins.

And today their corpses still scarred the picturesque flatlands to the west of the Roughrider State as the cleanup began.

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Dead where they stood: As many as 20,000 cattle are thought to have died where they stood. Now the state has dug two 20-foot pits for their disposal

Scarred: Today their black and bloated corpses still scarred the picturesque flatlands to the west of the Roughrider State as the cleanup began

But with no federal livestock disaster programme in place, many ranchers were left wondering how they would survive the setback.

'This is the worse than I've ever seen for loss of livestock,' said rancher Karl Knutson, 25, who works on his family ranch east of the town of Sturgis, as he began counting his losses.

'Some people were very well prepared and lost 50 per cent of their herd,' said state veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven told CNN. 'Some were not prepared and took no losses. There was no rhyme or reason to it. Some ranchers lost everything.'

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'It will be two weeks to a month before we have a better idea of the impact,' he added.

Gary Cammack, who ranches on the prairie near Union Center about 40 miles northeast of the Black Hills, said he lost about 70 cows and some calves, about 15 percent of his herd. A calf would normally sell for $1,000, while a mature cow would bring $1,500 or more, he said.

'We have misplaced
cattle everywhere,' Oedekoven said. 'The storm blew them 10 miles or
more from where they are normally pastured.'

Alan Rislov, 35, who ranches near Philip, said a disaster program would be welcome. He estimates he lost 30 percent of his cattle, but won't know until he finds all of them.

'We don't know for sure how many we lost, but in the hundreds,' he said.

'It's a tough deal,' Rislov said. 'We're hoping there's going to be a disaster program. We'll just have to see what happens, I guess.'

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said a previous federal livestock disaster program expired at the end of 2011.

Lost cattle: Ranchers raced to find cattle that drifted beyond fenced pastures during the blizzard

October blizzard: This was the scene in Rapid City, South Dakota, as the storm dumped 33 inches of snow in South Dakota's Black Hills area last weekend

The House and Senate versions of the new farm bill include programs to help cover livestock losses, but the two chambers have been unable to agree on a farm bill after passing different versions several months ago.

Until a new farm bill is passed, with a retroactive livestock disaster programme, little assistance is available to ranchers, Thune said.

The House version of the farm bill would cover 75 percent of fair market value of lost livestock, while the Senate version would cover 65 percent.

'Hopefully, this will be the impetus to get the farm bill passed, to get people to the table,' Thune said.